Courtesy of Mikkel Bolante, InterAKTV · Thursday, August 23, 2012
The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team finally ran out of luck, falling to the Jarrid Famous-led Lebanon team, 91-72, in the 34th William Jones Cup in Taiwan.
The loss was the first for the Filipinos in the tournament, dropping their record down to 4-1. The loss is crucial as the championship is decided by win-loss records at the end of the single round-robin tilt. Iran leads the field with a 4-0 record.
Lebanon got the jump on the Philippines early, finishing the first quarter ahead, 22-15. They ended the first half leading by 11 points.
But there was no comeback in the works for the Filipinos this time, after Lebanon outscored SMART-Gilas, 31-14, in a big third quarter that gave them a whopping 74-46 lead entering the last 10 minutes.
Famous, the former Meralco Bolts import, opened the fourth quarter by scoring his 24th point of the game, giving Lebanon a 30-point advantage, 78-48.
Sol Mercado answered with a bucket off a strong drive and Matt Rosser was given two points off a goaltending violation as the Philippines cut the deficit down to 26, 78-52, with 7:20 remaining.
But the Lebanese responded with a three-pointer to push the lead back up to 81-52.
The Filipinos hit several free throws in the last two minutes that brought the lead down to 19, 91-72, with the game safely in hand for Lebanon.
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